System and method for association of transitory WiFi users

ABSTRACT

Embodiments are provided for identifying transitory WiFi users and providing a differential treatment of such users in terms of delaying associating steps between user stations (STAs) and an access point (AP). A transitory user refers to a user or user device that connects to a WiFi AP but does not run applications that require association or assigning IP addresses, such as short-term or temporary connected WiFi users that are on the move. In an embodiment, a STA connects to an AP. Upon the STA indicating its transitory behavior to the AP or the AP detecting criteria of transitory behavior of the STA, the STA obtains a delay time value from the AP. The STA then delays sending an association request to the AP, or alternatively, the AP delays handling the association request from the STA in accordance with the delay time value.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/709,829 filed on Oct. 4, 2012 by Bin Chen and entitled “System andMethod for Association of Transitory WiFi Users,” which is herebyincorporated herein by reference as if reproduced in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communications,and, in particular embodiments, to a system and method for associationof transitory WiFi users.

BACKGROUND

In densely populated public areas, such as shopping malls, trainstations, and airports, passing-by WiFi users may remain in the AccessPoint (AP) coverage for relatively short durations. A station (STA)refers to a wireless device that has an active WiFi interface. In manycases, the STAs of such shortly connected or “transitory” user have nodata exchange running applications that would require WiFi associationor resource consuming WiFi protocol exchanges with the AP. However,typically the STAs may still perform unnecessary network discovery,association, and Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation. This leadsto increased WiFi signaling overhead, reduced air channel availability,overuse of network resources, and exhaustion of IP addresses. There is aneed for mechanisms that resolve such issues and handle WiFi users thatdo not need to associate or perform unnecessary steps with the AP.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with an embodiment, a method implemented by a station(STA) for delayed association with an access point (AP) of a wirelessnetwork includes connecting to the AP, and obtaining a delay time valuefrom the AP upon the STA indicating the transitory behavior to the AP orthe AP detecting criteria of transitory behavior of the STA. The methodfurther includes delaying sending an association request to the AP by atime period in accordance with the delay time value.

In accordance with another embodiment, a method implemented by an AP ofa wireless network for delayed association with a STA includesconnecting with the STA. Upon the AP detecting criteria of transitorybehavior of the STA or the STA indicating the transitory behavior to theAP, the AP sends the STA a delay time value. The method further includesobtaining an association request from the STA after a delay inaccordance with the delay time value.

In accordance with another embodiment, a user device configured fordelayed association with a wireless network includes at least oneprocessor and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storingprogramming for execution by the at least one processor. The programmingincluding instructions to connect to an AP of the wireless network, andobtain a delay time value from the AP upon the AP detecting criteria oftransitory behavior of the user device or the user device indicating thetransitory behavior to the AP. The programming includes furtherinstructions to delay sending an association request to the AP by a timeperiod in accordance with the delay time value.

In accordance with yet another embodiment, an AP of a wireless networkconfigured for delayed association with a station (STA) includes atleast one processor and a non-transitory computer readable storagemedium storing programming for execution by the at least one processor.The programming including instructions to connect with the STA, and sendthe STA a delay time value upon the AP detecting criteria of transitorybehavior of the STA or the STA indicating the transitory behavior to theAP. The programming further configures the AP to obtain an associationrequest from the STA after a delay in accordance with the delay timevalue.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features of an embodimentof the present invention in order that the detailed description of theinvention that follows may be better understood. Additional features andadvantages of embodiments of the invention will be describedhereinafter, which form the subject of the claims of the invention. Itshould be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conceptionand specific embodiments disclosed may be readily utilized as a basisfor modifying or designing other structures or processes for carryingout the same purposes of the present invention. It should also berealized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructionsdo not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth inthe appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and theadvantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptionstaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a WiFi association scenario;

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment method for associating a transitoryWiFi user with an AP;

FIG. 3 illustrates another embodiment method for associating atransitory WiFi user with an AP; and

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an exemplary processing system that can be usedto implement various embodiments.

Corresponding numerals and symbols in the different figures generallyrefer to corresponding parts unless otherwise indicated. The figures aredrawn to clearly illustrate the relevant aspects of the embodiments andare not necessarily drawn to scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

The making and using of the presently preferred embodiments arediscussed in detail below. It should be appreciated, however, that thepresent invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that canbe embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specificembodiments discussed are merely illustrative of specific ways to makeand use the invention, and do not limit the scope of the invention.

Embodiments are provided herein for handling association for transitoryWiFi users and avoiding performing unnecessary association and othermessaging steps between stations (STAs) and a WiFi access point (AP).The term transitory user (or transitory STA) is used herein to indicateusers or user devices that connect to a WiFi AP but do not runapplications that require association or assigning internet protocol(IP) addresses, such as short-term or temporary connected WiFi usersthat may be on the move. The embodiments include identifying transitoryusers and providing a differential treatment of such transitory users(in comparison to other WiFi users), which avoids unnecessary WiFinetwork association and IP address allocation. Such schemes improve airchannel availability and reduce WiFi signaling overhead, depletion of IPaddresses, and network resource (e.g., Authentication, Authorization,Accounting (AAA) server) overload.

The WiFi association procedure is delayed for transitory STAs by waitingfor a timer expiration, or alternatively waiting for WiFi traffic fromthe STA, to trigger the association. The AP may delay the authenticationor the association when the received authentication or associationrequest message from a requesting STA shows that the requesting STA is atransitory STA. For example, the association request may include notraffic volume or an indicator showing that this STA is enabled as atransitory STA. The device may have a setting where this feature can beenabled, such as for the purpose of battery life saving. The termtransitory is used herein to indicate a class or type of users or STAsthat are assigned a differential association than other users or STAs.The differential association for transitory users is described invarious embodiments below. For instance, the transitory users having thedifferential association are WiFi users that connect to an AP forrelatively short time periods and/or have no data exchange runningapplications (e.g., remain idle) during a connection period, such as inthe case of passing-by users in shopping malls, train stations, orairports.

FIG. 1 illustrates a WiFi association scenario 100 implemented betweenSTAs 110 and an AP 120. For example, the STAs 110 and AP 120 may havehotspot 2.0 (HS 2.0) Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) standard 802.11 capability. Examples of STAs 110 includesmartphones, computer tablets, computer laptops, smart sensor devices,or any devices equipped with WiFi connection capability. The STAs 110may also be able to interact with other types of communication networks,such as a cellular network. When a user chooses to connect to WiFi, theuser's STA 110 scans for available hotspots within WiFi coverage range.The AP 120 and one or more STAs 110 can form a basic service set (BSS),which is the basic building block of an IEEE 802.11 wireless local areanetwork (WLAN). The AP 120 may also communicate with an AP controller oran Access Network Query Protocol (ANQP) server, which can be collocatedwith the AP 120 or located elsewhere. To connect to the AP 120, a STA110 may send a probe message or receive a beacon broadcasted from the AP120. To establish a Generic Advertisement Service (GAS), the STA 110sends an ANQP request to and receives an ANQP response from the AP 120.An IEEE 802.11u GAS operation can be used to provide for Layer 2transport of an advertisement protocol's frames between a terminal and aserver in the network prior to authentication. IEEE 802.11u ANQP is usedto discover different features and available services of the network.The STA 110 can then associate and authenticate with the AP 120. Hence,the STA 10 begins IP address assignment and data communications, and theAP 120 provides the STA 110 with access to a service provider network130.

As described above, the network resources may be overwhelmed when thenumber of STAs 110 attempting to connect and associate/authenticate withthe AP 120 exceeds a threshold. To ovoid issues related to suchscenarios, an STA 110 is assigned differential association treatment ifthe STA 110 is determined to be a transitory STA according to definedcriteria. The differential authentication/association treatment includesdelaying authentication/association and other messaging steps toestablish WiFi communications between an STA and an AP, including atleast one of the association, authentication, GAS, and ANQP operationsabove. The combination of association and messaging steps to establishand start WiFi communications (as in scenario 100) are also referred toherein as association steps. According to the defined criteria, the STA110 is determined to be a transitory STA according to the traffic volumegenerated by the STA and the time spent in the AP coverage. Forinstance, if there is no traffic from the STA 110 and the STA 110 spendsshort time in the AP coverage, the STA is considered a transitory STA.According to other criteria, signaling status changes or associations ofthe STA 110 are continuously monitored (by STA or AP/network), e.g.,during a time period, to determine a behavior of the STA. The amount ofsignaling status changes or associations over the monitored time periodis used to determine if the STA is a transitory STA. For instance, ifthe amount of status changes or associations exceeds a threshold for arelatively short period of time, the STA is considered to be atransitory STA. The behavior of the STA may be continuously monitored,and may change over time (e.g., from transitory to non-transitory). Inother criteria, the STA's movement is detected (e.g., using globalpositioning system (GPS) information from the STA 110) to determine orhelp in assessing the transitory state. According to other criteria, theSTA 110 is checked for determining whether it is on and off a BSScoverage, e.g., within a relative short time. If the STA is detected tobe on and off of BSS coverage for a relative short time, the STA isconsidered in a transitory state. The coverage time duration that isused to qualify a STA as transitory can be announced via a beaconbroadcast from the AP 120 or configured in the STA 110 itself. Fordifferent embodiments, the different criteria above can be usedindividually or can be combined in any suitable combination to determinethe transitory state of a STA 110. Further, in an embodiment, every STA110 that has no active data traffic (e.g., in an idle state) isconsidered a transitory STA once the device enters the AP 120 coverage(e.g. before association.) A STA 110 may detect that it has entered inthe AP 120 coverage by receiving a beacon, a probe response or bydecoding other broadcast transmissions from that AP 120.

In the case of non-transitory STAs, typically once a STA detects that ithas entered an AP coverage, the STA starts a network selection and APassociation process, which may consists of one or more GAS requests toobtain ANQP attributes, authentication procedures, an associationprocedure, an IP address assignment, and data communications, such asdescribed above. In an embodiment, to handle transitory STAs 110, the AP120 is configured to broadcast, e.g., periodically, a time value or aset of time values that are used by the determined transitory STAs, forinstance idle STAs according to one implementation, to postpone (delay)a relevant step of the connection process. In an example, a set of fourtime values may be broadcasted (labeled T1, T2, T3, and T4) or sent inthe Probe Response message. A first time value, T1, is used by atransitory (e.g., idle STA) to delay the GAS request with respect to theinstance when the STA detected that it has entered in the AP 120coverage. As second time value, T2, is used by the transitory or idleSTA to start the authentication process after the moment of entrance inthe AP coverage. A third time value, T3, is used by this STA to startits association request process. A fourth time value, T4, is used by theSTA to initiate the IP address request procedure with respect to thecoverage entrance moment. Based on the steps taken by the transitory STAin the connection process, the time values satisfy the followinginequality T₄≧T₃≧T₂≧T₁≧0. The time values may be on the order ofmillisecond, hundreds of milliseconds, or any suitable time values,e.g., according to other system restrictions/requirements. In otherimplementations, any number of time values (less or greater than 4values) may be used. An AP (or a network control entity) can allocatethese time values as a function of the traffic load distribution forthat AP or that of others in the vicinity, traffic type, and/or historicdata regarding the transitory time of the users at that particularlocation. In another implementation, the set of time values is specifiedas system parameters pre-provisioned by the manufacturer or by the uservia a configuration procedure. If a STA skips any of the above steps,for instance the GAS request, the STA can use the remaining time valuesas timer values for the other operations during the association process.

In an embodiment, the AP broadcasts multiple sets of time values whereeach set is dedicated to a different type of WiFi devices or differentsubscription class. For instance, smart phone devices use one set whilesome sensor type of devices use a different set of time values. The APmay periodically broadcast the type of devices and the set of timevalues used for association for each set.

In an embodiment, the mechanisms above are extended to handle theassociation behavior of transitory devices that have ongoing traffic(for instance during AP transition or re-selection). In this case, eventhe STAs that carry data traffic may be considered transitory. However,the transitory degree is determined by the amount and/or type of traffichandled by the device and the device type. For instance, according toWiFi standards, there are four categories of traffic (voice over IP(VoIP), video, best effort, and background) that can be used todifferentiate the transitory degree of a device. Each of these types oftraffic may require a minimum latency and throughput, which means thatdifferent delay times or set of delay times can be used for differenttraffic types (or different transitory degrees).

In an embodiment, the connection behavior is determined by the highestpriority of the type of traffic that a STA carries. For instance, a STAthat carries a VoIP or video is not considered a transitory STA, whichmay be equivalent to setting the time values where T₄=T₃=T₂=T₁=0. A STAthat carries best effort traffic can use, for example, a set of timevalues where T₄, T₃, T₂, T₁≧0 to define its behavior. A STA that carriesonly background traffic can use a set of time values where T′₄, T′₃,T′₂, T′₁≧0 to determine when it starts the association steps. Anotheroption is to only set one or more of the timers without restricting orspecifying the others. The embodiments above can also be combined in anysuitable manner to determine transitory STAs and implement accordingly adifferential association treatment.

The proposed schemes above allow filtering of the transitory usersdepending on the time values, e.g., broadcasted by the AP. For instance,if a STA exits the AP coverage before the indicated time value T1, theSTA does not start the GAS exchange protocol, which saves air time andtransmission/battery power. The assessment of coverage can be based onmissing a number of beacon transmissions from an AP, a GPS indicationand a data base containing the coverage region, communications from anadditional device (e.g., a near field communication device (NFC)),comparison of signal to noise ratio (SNR) to a threshold or other SNRvalues from other APs, other suitable means for indicating AP coverage,or combinations thereof. The other connection steps can be delayedsimilarly based on corresponding time values and detecting STA exit fromAP coverage before the indicated time values.

As described above, the set of time values (e.g., T₄, T₃, T₂, T₁≧0) maybe broadcast by the AP periodically, or provided via the probe response.In another implementation, the time values are provided by the GAS ANQPparameter queries. In another implementation, the time values areprovided to the user device via Management Objects (MOs), which are partof the subscription MO where policy may be provided by the operator forthe network for selection purposes. Various implementations may besupported in the same system, and may be signaled by the AP or ANQP. Thetime values may also be used by the user device as a determining factorin network selection. For instance, a user device can select between twosimilar networks or hotspots the one which offers faster connectivityaccording to the hotspot's corresponding time values for delayedassociation steps.

In an embodiment, instead of having fixed time values, such as for T₄,T₃, T₂, T₁≧0, each value for each association step (if assigned) isreplaced by a range of values from which the STA can select randomly adelay time value while still maintaining the inequality T₄≧T₃ T₂≧T₁≧0.This approach reduces the number of collisions for bursty access ofrelative large number of users.

In an embodiment, the transitory STA does not delay its associationsteps, and instead the AP adds a corresponding additional delay for eachconsidered association step in order to filter out the transitorydevice's requests. In this case, the AP needs to make sure that theintroduced delays are negotiated with the STA such that the STA refrainsfrom retransmitting the GAS request, the authentication request, orother steps. This can be implemented via an immediate response from theAP which communicates to the STA the expected time for the response tothe request. For instance, a transitory STA sends an authenticationrequest. The AP responds immediately by communicating that theauthentication response will be received after at least T2 time units.In this approach, as well in the previous embodiments, a STA canconserve power going to sleep until the authentication response isprovided, or can move into a different channel to perform additionalscanning Because this is an individualized approach, where each STA canhave its own delays, the approach can be successfully used to handlebursty association requests from multiple STAs.

In the embodiments above, if at any point before the expiration of thetimer the STA needs to transmit data, then the STA may switch tonon-transitory state and start the delayed connection step. In a furtherembodiment, the AP may broadcast an indicator to reflect its support forthe differential association feature for addressing transitory users.This indicator may be in a beacon, or probe response, or some othermessage. Alternatively, the AP may broadcast a positive indicator toindicate support for the feature or a negative indicator to indicate nosupport for the feature. Furthermore, the AP may be configured whetheror not to broadcast such an indicator. For example, when an AP isdeployed in an office or home area, there may be no benefit for usingthis feature and hence the feature is disabled in such scenarios. Assuch, the AP may not broadcast this indicator or may broadcast anegative indicator. On the other hand, if an AP is deployed in a railwaystation, airport, or some other public place, the AP may be configuredto broadcast this indicator or a positive indicator so that the STAs canuse the transitory feature.

In an embodiment, when a user triggers the STA to associate to an AP,the STA initiates the association immediately regardless whether it isin a transitory state. The STA may put an indicator to avoid delay to(or begin as soon as possible) the association request, authenticationrequest, GAS request, or other steps. When the AP receives the requestand detects such indicator, the AP responds to the request or acceptsthe association as soon as possible regardless.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment method 200 by a transitory STA forassociating with an AP. At step 210, the STA detects an AP, such as whenthe STA moves into the coverage of the AP. The STA may send a probemessage to the AP and receive in return a response from the AP, or maydetect a broadcasted beacon from the AP. The STA then starts aconnection or link with the AP. At step 220, the method 200 determinesthe transitory behavior of the STA according to any of the criteriadescribed above. This step can be performed at the STA or both the STAand AP by exchanging relevant parameters to the criteria. After the APbecomes aware of the STA transitory behavior, for example after beingsignaled by the STA about its transitory state, the AP indicates one ormore time values for delayed association to the STA. The STA may send anindicator of its transitory state in an association request message tothe AP. Alternatively, the STA may send an association request with notraffic to indicate its transitory state to the AP. At step 230, the STAreceives one or more time values for delayed association with the AP.For example, the STA receives a set of four (or any other number) oftime values for delaying corresponding association and messaging steps,as described in the embodiments above. The time values may be broadcastin the beacon (e.g., periodically), provided via the probe response, aspart of the GAS ANQP parameters, in subscription MOs for determiningnetwork selection policy, or any other suitable exchange between the STAand the AP/network. At step 240, the STA delays one or more associationsteps according to the corresponding one or more indicated time values.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment method 300 by an AP for associatingwith a transitory STA. At step 310, the AP detects a STA, such as whenthe STA moves into the coverage of the AP. The AP may receive a probemessage from the STA indicating the STA's presence, or receive a requestto connect from the STA in response to a beacon from the AP. The AP thenstarts a connection or link with the STA. At step 320, the method 300determines the transitory behavior of the STA according to any of thecriteria described above. This step can be performed at the AP or boththe AP and STA by exchanging relevant parameters to the criteria. Afterthe AP becomes aware of the STA transitory behavior, the AP sends one ormore time values for delayed association to the STA at step 330. Thetime values may be may be broadcast in the beacon (e.g., periodically),provided via the probe response, as part of the GAS ANQP parameters, insubscription MOs for determining network selection policy, or any othersuitable exchange between the AP and STA. At step 340, the AP delays theprocessing of one or more association and messaging steps according tothe corresponding one or more indicated time values.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary processing system 400 that canbe used to implement various embodiments. The processing system is partof a UE, such as a smartphone, of a meeting scheduled attendee. Specificdevices may utilize all of the components shown, or only a subset of thecomponents, and levels of integration may vary from device to device.Furthermore, a device may contain multiple instances of a component,such as multiple processing units, processors, memories, transmitters,receivers, etc. The processing system 400 may comprise a processing unit401 equipped with one or more input/output devices, such as a speaker,microphone, mouse, touchscreen, keypad, keyboard, printer, display, andthe like. The processing unit 401 may include a central processing unit(CPU) 410, a memory 420, a mass storage device 430, a video adapter 440,and an Input/Output (I/O) interface 490 connected to a bus. The bus maybe one or more of any type of several bus architectures including amemory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, a video bus, or thelike.

The CPU 410 may comprise any type of electronic data processor. Thememory 420 may comprise any type of system memory such as static randomaccess memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronousDRAM (SDRAM), read-only memory (ROM), a combination thereof, or thelike. In an embodiment, the memory 420 may include ROM for use atboot-up, and DRAM for program and data storage for use while executingprograms. The mass storage device 430 may comprise any type of storagedevice configured to store data, programs, and other information and tomake the data, programs, and other information accessible via the bus.The mass storage device 430 may comprise, for example, one or more of asolid state drive, hard disk drive, a magnetic disk drive, an opticaldisk drive, or the like.

The video adapter 440 and the I/O interface 490 provide interfaces tocouple external input and output devices to the processing unit. Asillustrated, examples of input and output devices include a display 460coupled to the video adapter 440 and any combination ofmouse/keyboard/printer 470 coupled to the I/O interface 490. Otherdevices may be coupled to the processing unit 401, and additional orfewer interface cards may be utilized. For example, a serial interfacecard (not shown) may be used to provide a serial interface for aprinter.

The processing unit 401 also includes one or more network interfaces450, which may comprise wired links, such as an Ethernet cable or thelike, and/or wireless links to access nodes or one or more networks 480.The network interface 450 allows the processing unit 401 to communicatewith remote units via the networks 480. For example, the networkinterface 450 may provide wireless communication via one or moretransmitters/transmit antennas and one or more receivers/receiveantennas. In an embodiment, the processing unit 401 is coupled to alocal-area network or a wide-area network for data processing andcommunications with remote devices, such as other processing units, theInternet, remote storage facilities, or the like.

While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure,it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods might beembodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spiritor scope of the present disclosure. The present examples are to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is notto be limited to the details given herein. For example, the variouselements or components may be combined or integrated in another systemor certain features may be omitted, or not implemented.

In addition, techniques, systems, subsystems, and methods described andillustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may becombined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, ormethods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.Other items shown or discussed as coupled or directly coupled orcommunicating with each other may be indirectly coupled or communicatingthrough some interface, device, or intermediate component whetherelectrically, mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples of changes,substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in theart and could be made without departing from the spirit and scopedisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method implemented by a station (STA) fordelayed association with an access point (AP) of a wireless network, themethod comprising: connecting to the AP; determining that the STA is atransitory STA; obtaining a delay time value from the AP, afterdetermining that the STA is a transitory STA; delaying sending anassociation request to the AP by a time period in accordance with thedelay time value; connecting to a second AP; receiving, from the secondAP, a second delay time value, after the second AP determines that theSTA is a transitory STA; and associated with the AP or with the secondAP after a delay, in accordance with a smaller one of the delay timevalue and the second delay time value.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: indicating, by the STA to the AP, that the STA is atransitory STA.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whetherthe STA is a transitory STA includes detecting no traffic from the STAor an idle state of the STA upon connection.
 4. The method of claim 2,wherein determining whether the STA is a transitory STA includesdetecting a number of status changes or associations from the STAexceeding a defined threshold during a defined time period.
 5. Themethod of claim 2, wherein determining whether the STA is a transitorySTA includes detecting a movement behavior of the STA.
 6. The method ofclaim 2, wherein determining whether the STA is a transitory STAincludes detecting the STA exceeding a threshold number of on and offconnections to a basic service set (BSS).
 7. The method of claim 1,further comprising: further receiving, with the delay time value, asecond delay time value from the AP; and delaying sending, to the AP, aGeneric Advertisement Service (GAS) request, an Access Network QueryProtocol (ANQP) request, an authentication request, or an InternetProtocol (IP) address request with the AP by a time period in accordancewith the second delay time value.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein thedelay time value is obtained from the AP in a broadcast beacon, a proberesponse, a Generic Advertisement Service (GAS) response, an AccessNetwork Query Protocol (ANQP) response, or a Management Object (MO) fordetermining network selection policy.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereinobtaining the delay time value from the AP includes: receiving a rangeof values from the AP; and randomly selecting the delay time value fromthe received range of values.
 10. A method implemented by an accesspoint (AP) of a wireless network for delayed association with a station(STA), the method comprising: connecting with the STA; determining thatthe STA is a transitory STA; sending the STA a delay time value inresponse to determining that the STA is a transitory STA; obtaining anassociation request from the STA after a delay in accordance with thedelay time value; sending the STA a second delay time value for aGeneric Advertisement Service (GAS) request, a third delay time valuefor an authentication request, and a fourth delay time value for anInternet Protocol (IP) address request; receiving the GAS request fromthe STA after a delay, in accordance with the second delay time value;receiving the authentication request from the STA after a delay, inaccordance with the third delay time value; and receiving the IP addressrequest from the STA after a delay, in accordance with the fourth delaytime value, wherein the second delay time value is greater than thedelay time value, the third delay time value is less than the delay timevalue and greater than the second delay time value, and the fourth delaytime value is greater than the delay time value.
 11. The method of claim10, further comprising: receiving from the STA, an indication oftransitory behavior of the STA; sending the STA the delay time valueupon receiving the indication from the STA; and obtaining theassociation request from the STA after a delay, in accordance with thedelay time value.
 12. The method of claim 10, further comprising, inresponse to determining that the STA is a transitory STA, indicatingsupport for delayed association to the STA.
 13. The method of claim 10,wherein determining whether the STA is a transitory STA includesdetecting no traffic from the STA or an idle state of the STA uponconnection, a number of status changes or associations from the STAexceeding a defined threshold during a defined time period, a movementbehavior of the STA indicating that the STA is a transitory STA, or theSTA exceeding a threshold number of on and off connections to a basicservice set (BSS).
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein obtaining theassociation request from the STA after a delay in accordance with thedelay time value includes: receiving the association request from theSTA; and delaying at the AP the received association request for a timeperiod equal to the delay time value.
 15. The method of claim 10,further comprising: broadcasting different sets of delay time values,the different sets allocated for corresponding user devices havingdifferent types or subscription classes; and obtaining associationrequests from the corresponding user devices having different types orsubscription classes after different delays, in accordance with thedifferent sets of delay time values.
 16. A user device configured fordelayed association with a wireless network, the user device comprising:at least one processor; and a non-transitory computer readable storagemedium storing programming for execution by the at least one processor,the programming including instructions to: connect to an access point(AP) of the wireless network; determine that the user device is atransitory STA; obtain a delay time value from the AP after determiningthat the user device is a transitory STA; delay sending an associationrequest to the AP by a time period in accordance with the delay timevalue; connect to a second AP; receive, from the second AP, a seconddelay time value, after the second AP determines that the STA is atransitory STA; and associate with the AP or with the second AP after adelay, in accordance with a smaller one of the delay time value and thesecond delay time value.
 17. The user device of claim 16, wherein theprogramming includes further instructions to: indicate, to the AP, thatthe user device is a transitory STA.
 18. The user device of claim 17,wherein the instructions to determine whether the user device is atransitory STA include instructions to detect no traffic from the userdevice or an idle state of the used device upon connection, a number ofstatus changes or associations from the user device exceeding a definedthreshold during a defined time period, a movement behavior of the userdevice indicating that the user device is a transitory STA, or the userdevice exceeding a threshold number of on and off connections to a basicservice set (BSS).
 19. An access point (AP) of a wireless networkconfigured for delayed association with a station (STA), the APcomprising: at least one processor; and a non-transitory computerreadable storage medium storing programming for execution by the atleast one processor, the programming including instructions to: connectwith the STA; determine that the STA is a transitory STA, comprisingdetermining that the STA is connected to the AP and that the STA doesnot require association with the AP; send the STA a delay time value inresponse to determining that the STA is a transitory STA; obtain anassociation request from the STA after a delay in accordance with thedelay time value; send the STA a second delay time value for a GenericAdvertisement Service (GAS) request, a third delay time value for anauthentication request, and a fourth delay time value for an InternetProtocol (IP) address request; receive the GAS request from the STAafter a delay, in accordance with the second delay time value; receivethe authentication request from the STA after a delay, in accordancewith the third delay time value; and receive the IP address request fromthe STA after a delay, in accordance with the fourth delay time value,wherein the second delay time value is greater than the delay timevalue, the third delay time value is less than the delay time value andgreater than the second delay time value, and the fourth delay timevalue is greater than the delay time value.
 20. The AP of claim 19,wherein the programming includes further instructions to indicatesupport for delayed association to the STA.
 21. The AP of claim 19,wherein the instructions to detect criteria of transitory behavior ofthe STA includes instructions to detect no traffic from the STA or anidle state of the STA upon connection, a number of status changes orassociations from the STA exceeding a defined threshold during a definedtime period, a movement behavior of the STA indicating that the STA is atransitory STA, or the STA exceeding a threshold number of on and offconnections to a basic service set (BSS).